1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a pedal assembly for protecting a driver in a vehicle, and more particularly to a pedal assembly for protecting a driver in a vehicle which can maximally preclude an injury of the driver's legs (hit against the shin, bending of the ankles, and the like) due to a pedal assembly in a collision or a rear-end collision.
2. Description of Related Art
In common vehicles, an acceleration pedal, a brake pedal, and a clutch pedal that are operated by a driver are mounted on the dash panel under the driver seat.
When the engine room is crushed by too large shock power generated in a collision or a rear-end collision, the driver's legs are injured by the pedals.
That is, as a dash panel 1 and a pedal member 2 are pushed rearward by shock power, a pedal arm 3 is correspondingly pushed rearward, as indicated by an arrow M1 and the lower end of the pedal pivots up about a pedal hinge shaft 4, as indicated by and arrow R1.
In this case, if the driver does not press down the pedal with a foot, the end of the pivoting pedal hits the shin of the driver and the driver's leg is injured, or when the driver presses down the pedal with a foot, the driver's ankle is thrown and bent back by the pivoting pedal, so that the driver is injured.
Therefore, in order to solve the problem, a pedal assembly with a safety mechanism that can minimize an injury of a leg of a driver by a pedal by separating a pedal member 2 from a cowl bracket 5 such that a pedal arm 3 moves down and by forcing the pedal arm 3 to pivot forward as indicated by the arrow R2 such that the pedal arm 3 moves away as far as possible from a leg of a driver, when the pedal member 2 is pushed rearward in a collision, has been proposed.
However, the pedal assembly described above has a defect that the cost and weight considerably increase because there are too many components in the safety mechanism, and particularly, the pedal arm 3 cannot be forced to pivot, when the pedal member 2 and the cowl bracket 5 are not separated, so that a leg of a driver is more seriously injured because the pedal arm 3 further pivots, and it is necessary to satisfy a condition that the cowl panel 6 should be pushed rearward further than a dash panel 1 even though the pedal member 2 is pushed rearward.
The information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.